Quebec, Nun ministers a Catholic wedding

Sister Pierrette Thiffault presided over the liturgy at Lorrainville after the bishop had received permission from the Holy See. An exception provided by the Canon Code of Law

Sister Pierrette Thiffault

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Pubblicato il
28/07/2017

Ultima modifica il 28/07/2017 alle ore 12:48

andrea tornielli

rome

Her name is Sister Pierrette Thiffault; she is a religious woman who makes up for the lack of priests in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec. She had not yet ministered at a Catholic marriage. However, Saturday, July 22, she got Cindy and David married in the Catholic parish church of Lorrainville, a town of 1,200 souls that is more than 650 kilometers from Montreal.

The presence of a woman behind the altar (where only the matrimonial liturgy, and not the mass, took place), made a stir. It is, however, an exception provided by the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1983 by St. John Paul II.

According to Canon 1112, “Where there is a lack of priests and deacons, the diocesan bishop can delegate lay persons to assist at marriages, with the previous favorable vote of the conference of bishops and after he has obtained the permission of the Holy See.” The next paragraph adds: “A suitable lay person is to be selected, who is capable of giving instruction to those preparing to be married and able to perform the matrimonial liturgy properly.” In the Code of Canon Law, the word “lay” has no gender connotation, therefore every time something is attributed to a layperson this applies to both men and women. Different is the case of the Sacred Order and its three degrees of diaconate, presbyterated and episcopate, which are reserved to males only. Even though nuns have made religious vows, they are considered “lay” for the Sacred Order.

It should be noted that in a marriage ceremony, the minister celebrating the sacrament is not the priest. The ministers preforming the wedding are in fact the bride and groom themselves. Within the matrimonial liturgy, the priest’s duty is that of being a qualified witness. For this reason, the canonical rules provide, exceptionally and in cases of proven need, the possibility of a layperson to preside over the liturgy, after obtaining permission from the Holy See.

Lorrainville belongs to the diocese of Rouyn-Noranda, the clergy is running low and in some cases priests have to follow 7 or 8 parishes. That is why the bishop appealed to Sister Pierrette Thiffault, a religious woman belonging to the Sisters of Providence, for ministering the marriage. The nun wanted to remind the local press she was not ordained and therefore was not able to exercise any priestly function. To authorize her, with a letter dated May 23, 2017, was the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, presided over by Cardinal Robert Sarah. The Vicar General of the Canadian Diocese stated, “In the Catholic Church, this is a ministry that is entrusted to priests only. But there may be some exceptions, and what happens today is one of them.”

Sister Pierrette Thiffault has been in charge of the pastoral ministry in the Moffet Parish, near Lorainville, she taught catechism to David, the groom when he was a boy. The request to preside over the wedding came from the bishop.